Swollen river claims house next to Minnesota dam as flooding and extreme weather grip the Midwest
By: Hannah Fingerhut, Dave Collins And Margery A. Beck
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A house that was teetering on the edge of an eroding riverbank near a Minnesota dam collapsed into the river in the latest jarring example of extreme weather gripping the upper Midwest.
Video shows most of the house owned by the Barnes family falling into the flood-swollen Big Earth River near Mankato on Tuesday night. The dam’s west abutment failed Monday, sending part of the river around the dam and eroding the bank where the home sat. The family had evacuated the home before the collapse.
A vast swath from Nebraska to Minnesota has been under siege from flooding because of torrential rains since last week, while also suffering through a scorching heat wave. Up to 18 inches (46 centimetres) of rain have fallen in some areas, pushing some rivers to record levels. Hundreds of people were rescued, homes were damaged and at least two people died after driving in flooded areas.
Tornado warnings, flash flooding and large hail Tuesday night also added insult to injury for some people in the Midwest.
Suspected Houthi attack targets a ship in the Gulf of Aden, while Iraq-claimed attack targets Eilat
By: Jon Gambrell
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels early Wednesday targeted a ship in the Gulf of Aden, while a separate attack claimed by Iraqi militants allied with the rebels targeted the southern Israeli port city of Eilat, authorities said.
The attacks follow the departure of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower after an eight-month deployment in which the aircraft carrier led the American response to the Houthi assaults. Those attacks have reduced shipping drastically through the route crucial to Asian, Middle East and European markets in a campaign the Houthis say will continue as long as the Israel-Hamas war rages in the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, the Houthis faced allegations that they seized commercial aircraft that brought back pilgrims from the Hajj amid a widening economic dispute between the rebels and the country’s exiled government.
The ship attack happened off the coast of Aden, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said.
Gunfire, lawlessness and gang-like looters are preventing aid distribution in Gaza, an official says
By: Menelaos Hadjicostis
LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) — Thousands of tons of food, medicines and other aid piled up on a beach in war-torn Gaza is not reaching those in need because of a dire security situation and lawlessness on the ground, a U.S. aid official said Wednesday.
Truck drivers are getting caught in the crossfire or have their cargo seized by marauding “gang-like” groups, said Doug Strope, with the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The sense of desperation gripping ordinary Palestinians is only compounded by the combination of Gaza being an active combat zone and a prevailing “general sense of lawlessness,” Stropes told The Associated Press.
The security “that’s needed for the humanitarians to work is what’s really lacking right now,” the USAID official added.
The remarks are the latest amid international criticism over Israel’s campaign against Hamas as Gaza faces severe and widespread hunger.
Paris court upholds validity of France’s arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar Assad
By: Barbara Surk And Alex Turnbull
PARIS (AP) — The Paris appeals court ruled on Wednesday that an international arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar Assad issued by France for alleged complicity in war crimes during Syria’s civil war is valid and remains in place, lawyers said.
Jeanne Sulzer and Clemence Witt, lawyers who represented the plaintiffs and non-governmental organizations who filed the complaint against the Syrian president in France, hailed the decision as a historic judgment and “a giant step forward in the fight against impunity.”
In May, French anti-terrorism prosecutors asked the Paris appeals court to rule on lifting the arrest warrant for Assad, saying he has absolute immunity as a serving head of state.
“It’s the first time that a national court has recognized that the personal immunity of a serving head of state is not absolute,” the lawyers told The Associated Press.
Mark Rutte is named NATO chief. He’ll need all his consensus-building skills from Dutch politics.
By: Mike Corder
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Over the course of more than a dozen years at the top of Dutch politics, Mark Rutte got to know a thing or two about finding consensus among fractious coalition partners. Now he will bring the experience of leading four Dutch multiparty governments to the international stage as NATO’s new secretary general.
On Wednesday, NATO ambassadors appointed the outgoing Dutch prime minister as the alliance’s next secretary general, its top civilian post. Rutte is scheduled to head the world’s biggest military organization from October.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that “Mark is a true trans-Atlanticist, a strong leader, and a consensus-builder.” “I wish him every success as we continue to strengthen NATO for the challenges of today and tomorrow. I know I am leaving NATO in good hands,” he said.
Taking to social media, Rutte described his nomination as “a tremendous honour.”
“The alliance is and will remain the cornerstone of our collective security. Leading this organization is a responsibility I do not take lightly,” he posted on X. He said that he looks “forward to taking up the position with great vigour in October.”
Wind-driven wildfire spreads outside a central Oregon community and prompts evacuations
LA PINE, Ore. (AP) — A wind-driven wildfire spread Wednesday outside a central Oregon community, where residents of numerous homes and businesses were urged to evacuate, authorities said.
The Darlene 3 Fire grew to nearly 4 square miles (10 square kilometers) near the community of La Pine and was 30% contained, Central Oregon Fire Information posted on the social media site X.
It was not known whether any structures had burned.
It is among the latest dangerous U.S. wildfires. In New Mexico, thousands of people fled their homes last week as two fast-moving wildfires approached their village. Search and rescue crews this week have cleared more properties in the areas of Ruidoso, the mountain community that was hardest hit by the flames.
In the central area of California, a new group of three large wildfires and several smaller ones covered nearly 11 square miles (28 square kilometres) in rural eastern Fresno County.
A U.S. journalist goes on trial in Russia on espionage charges that he and his employer deny
By: Kirill Zarubin And Jim Heintz
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP) — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich went on trial behind closed doors in Yekaterinburg on Wednesday, 15 months after his arrest in the Russian city on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny.
The 32-year-old journalist appeared in the court in a glass defendants’ cage, his head shaved and wearing a black-and-blue plaid shirt. A yellow padlock latched the cage.
Authorities arrested Gershkovich on March 29, 2023, while on a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, in the Ural Mountains, and claimed without offering any evidence that he was gathering secret information for the U.S.
Russia has signaled the possibility of a prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, but it says a verdict — which could take months — would have to come first. Even after a verdict, it still could take months or years.
A Palestinian was shot, beaten and tied to an Israeli army jeep. The army says he posed no threat
By: Julia Frankel And Maya Alleruzzo
JENIN, West Bank (AP) — When Mujahid Abadi stepped outside to see if Israeli forces had entered his uncle’s neighbourhood, he was shot in the arm and the foot. That was only the start of his ordeal. Hours later, beaten and bloodied, he found himself strapped to the searing hood of an Israeli military jeep driving down a road.
The army initially said Abadi was a suspected militant, but later acknowledged he had not posed a threat to Israeli forces and was caught in crossfire with militants.
Video showing the 24-year-old strapped to the jeep circulated on social media, sparking widespread condemnation, including from the United States. Many said it showed that Israeli soldiers were using him as a human shield — a charge Israel has frequently levelled at Hamas as it battles the group in Gaza.
The military said it was investigating the incident and that it did not reflect its values. But Palestinians saw it as yet another act of brutality in Israel’s crackdown on the occupied West Bank, where violence has surged since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza.
